Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Tuesday that approximately 3 crore new accounts are expected to be opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) during the current financial year.
The PMJDY, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014, has seen the number of bank accounts grow nearly four-fold from 14.72 crore in March 2015 to 53.13 crore as of 16 August 2024.
Total deposits under the scheme have surged from ₹15,670 crore in March 2015 to over ₹2.31 lakh crore in August 2024.
Speaking to reporters on the eve of the 10th anniversary of PMJDY’s launch, Sitharaman said, “Our target is to open more than 3 crore PMJDY accounts during the current financial year.” As of 14 August 2024, there were over 173 crore operative current and savings accounts (CASA) in the country, including more than 53 crore operative PMJDY accounts.
The finance minister highlighted that advancements like e-KYC and video KYC have streamlined the account opening process, making it entirely paperless and eliminating the need to visit a bank branch or banking correspondent.
“We believe that most adults in the country now have bank accounts. Our focus is to cover the remaining adults and neo-adults,” Sitharaman added.
The average balance in PMJDY accounts has increased from ₹1,065 in March 2015 to ₹4,352 as of 16 August 2024, with approximately 80% of accounts currently active.
PMJDY is one of the world’s largest financial inclusion initiatives, with the total number of accounts surpassing 53 crore. The JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) has significantly boosted the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme, expanding its coverage nationwide, according to the finance ministry.
Approximately 66.6% of the accounts opened under the scheme are in rural and semi-urban areas, and 55.6% of the 53.13 crore accounts belong to women.
The ministry also noted that 99.95% of all inhabited villages now have access to banking facilities within a 5-kilometre radius through banking touch points, including bank branches, ATMs, banking correspondents (BCs), and Indian Post Payment Banks.
One of PMJDY’s key features is that there are no account opening, maintenance, or minimum balance charges. Additionally, account holders receive a free RuPay debit card with built-in accident insurance cover of ₹2 lakh and access to an overdraft facility of up to ₹10,000.
The scheme's pillars—banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured, and funding the unfunded—have fostered a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach while leveraging technology to serve unserved and underserved areas.
The JAM pipeline, created through the consent-based linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar and mobile numbers, is a crucial component of the financial inclusion ecosystem. It has enabled instant DBT under various government welfare schemes for eligible beneficiaries.
This financial inclusion infrastructure proved vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitating direct income support to farmers under PM-KISAN and the seamless transfer of ex-gratia payments to women PMJDY account holders under the PM Garib Kalyan package.
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